Method of attaching sweat-leath ers to hats



(No Model.)

. D. HOWELL. V 7

METHOD OF ATTAOHING SWEAT LEATHERS T0 HATS.

No. 508,315. Patented Nov. 7, 1893.

Inveniur,

David Hum/ell 5 Am if UNITED STATES PATENT @rrrca.

DAVID HOWELL, OF YONKERS, NEWV YORK.

METHOD OF ATTACH|NG SWEAT-LEATHERSTO HATS.

- SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 508,315, dated November '7, 1893.

Application filed November 28, 1892- Serial Ito-$53,414. (No specimens.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, DAVID HOWELL, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Yonkers, Westchester county, State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Methods of Stitching Sweat- Leathers to Hats, of which the following is a specification.

My invention is an' improved method of attaching sweat-leathers to hat-bodies with a loose or slack stitch that can be executed on amachine and yet have the appearance'of hand-whip-stitching. The particular advantage of the method is that it can be executed on a single thread machine. seen in the finished product is quite a close imitation of hand whip-stitching but is more regular.

In the accompanying drawings which form a part of this specification there is illustrated the form of sewing machine which I have found best adapted to carrying out my improved method.

Figure 1 is a detailin perspective showing a portion of the sewing machine. Figs. 2 and 3 are top views of the same with the needle and needle arm omitted and showing also the hat and sweat-leather, the position of these in Fig. 2 being that assumed inthe course of stitching and in Fig. 3 that assumed at the point of completion of the stitching. Fig. 4 is a side elevation of a part of the machine with the hat and leather shown in section in position assumed in the course of stitching. Fig. 5 is a rear elevation of the front part of the machine with the hat and leather in the position assumed as the last stitches in the leather are being taken. Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the finished hat showing the appearance of the stitching.

The machine shown is a Willcox & Gibbs single thread chain-stitch machine, but I replace the usual fiat cloth-plate by a rounded cloth-plate having its convex side upward,

and I attach on top of the cloth-plate a thin separating plate under the needle to hold the.

hat and leather apart While being sewed and thus secure the desired slack stitch. The thickness of this plate under the needle determines the amount of the slack of the stitch which should be about equal to the distance The stitching as from the attached edge of the leather to the line of needle holesin the leather.

Referring to Figs. 1 to 5 the cloth-plate O is seen to be rounded on the sides, but is flat on the top so that the leather will lie well to receive the stitches. The separating plate B is attached to the cloth-plate by screws S which pass through the outer or front ends of the two plates. An orifice is cut through both of the plates to permit the feed-dog to engage the hat-body. The needle passes down through an orifice in the cloth-plate and a correspondingly positioned slot in the separating plate. The separating plate has a square shoulder on its under side lying across it, just between the orifice for the feed-dog. and the slot for the needle. This shoulder is about as high as the leather is thick or a trifle higher, and is in front of-the plane of the needle a distance about equal to the slack of the stitch. From the line of the shoulder the separating plate extendsbackward alongbnt above and out of contact with the flattened top of the cloth-plate. It extends backward far enough to hold the leather well in place during the stitching when the attached edge of the leather along which the stitches are run-is pressed against and fed forward along the shoulder. The upper edge of the separating plate on the side from which the work is fed tapers off as is shown by the shading in Fig. 1. The needle N, needle arm A, feed-dog F, presser foot P, frame K and the remaining parts of the machine not shown are constructed, combined and operated exactly as in the familiar WVillcoX & Gibbs single thread chain-stitch machine.

In carrying out my improved method of stitching the sweat-leather to a hat-body on a machine such as is described the hat H is placed over the cloth and separating plates in the position shown in Figs. 2 and 4 with the angle or band ofthe hat, t'. 8., the line at which the body ends and the rim begins, in the vertical plane'of the needle,with the point on the band that lies at the back of the hat immediately under the needle. One end of the leather is then slipped under the separating plate until it comes under the needle inplace for the first stitch, with its 'edgeresting just at or within the angle or band of the hat-body and its rim in reversed position. Thus the face of the leather orthat side which is in View when the leather is properly positioned within the hat is uppermost. A line of stitching which will be slack is then run through and through the hat-body and the leather. dog and is guided by the operator who keeps the angle or band of the hat traveling along the inner edge of the presser-foot. The leather is guided by the hand and its edge is held up against the shoulder of the separating plate so that the needle holes lie close to and parallel to its attached edge. It a \Villcox & Gibbs single thread chain-stitch machine is used the needle passes down through the hatbody and leather and the thread is there caught by the hook of the machine and is drawn into a loop. The needle is then carried back so as to free the hat and leather which are then fed forward to the next point of insertion of the needle. If the leather and hat-body are positioned as shown in Figs. 2, t and 5 of the drawings the chain of loops which constitutes the locking of the threads lies along that side of the sweat-leather, herein called the inner side, which is bid from View when the leather is turned into its proper position in the hat. Those 'parts of the stitch which run parallel to the chain of loops lie along the outside of the hat-body close to or along the angle or band thereof. The stitching is continued with thehat-body and leather in the described positions until the hat has been turned through the whole of the circumference and even beyond, it de' sired. The leather is thereby attached all around and the parts are brought into the position of Fig. 5. The described bevel along the edge of the separating plate insures that the end ofv the leather first attached to the hat will ride over the separating plate when it comes around to it at the finish and will not butt against it and thus stop the feeding of the work. When the end of the leather first attached comes into line with the needle the hat may be slightly pushed in thereby carrying this end of the leather in beyond the needie, and one or more additional stitches taken through the hat-body and the other end of the leather, thereby securing some over-lap of the attached ends. When the last stitch that is to pass through the leather has been taken the hat is turned inward on the side from which it is fed, as shown in Fig. 3, so as to run one or more stitches into the hat'body alone. Since the leather is removed these stitches are not slack but are tight drawn and anchor the chain. The locking of the last loop of the chain of stitches that lies inside the hat-body is protected by the leather when the leather is turned in and its tightness is not atfected by moving the leather. The threads of the leather are then cut and the work removed from the machine, and finally the leather is reversed and inserted in proper position in the hat without bending it, for

The hat is fed forward by the feed-' its edge turns on the stitching as upon a hinge. On being thus turned in the edge takes up the pre-arranged slack of the stitching since the slack of the stitch is about equal to the distance between the attached edge of the leather and the line of needle holes therein, and if there is not enough slack the chain stitch will give somewhat. The locking of the thread is hid by the leather and nothing is seen within the hat but the straight threads which lie between the hat and the leather and which when the leather is turned in are thrown over its edge as seen in Fig. 6. This causes the stitching to present the finished appearance of hand-whip stitching except that it is more regular.

I have shown my invention as applied in the manufacture of the soft fur and wool hats known as crush hats by the use of a single thread chain-stitch machine, but this is a mere matter of preference.

Ido not claim the hat in this application as that is claimed in my application for an improvement in hats filed. October 17, 1891, Serial No. 408,973, nor the sewing machine, as that is claimed in my application for an improvement in sewing machines dated April 18, 1893, Serial No. 470,838, the latter filed as a division of this application; but

What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The herein described method of stitching the sweat-leather to a hat, consisting in first placing the leather with its edge resting just at or within the angle of the hat-body and its rim in reversed position, then running a row of slack stitching through and through the hat-body and the leather close to the edge of the latter, and finally reversing and inserting theleather without bending it, so that its edge turns upon the stitching as upon a hinge, thereby taking up the pre-arranged slack of the stitching, causing it to present the finished appearance of hand-whip stitching, all substantially as shown and described.

2. The herein described method of stitching the sweat-leather to a hat, consisting in first placing the leather with its edge resting just at or within the angle of the hat-body and its rim in reversed position, then running a row of slack stitching through and through the hat-body and the leather close to the edge of the latter ending in tight drawn stitching in the hat-body, and finally reversing and insorting the leather without bending it, so that its edge turns upon the stitching as upon a hinge, thereby taking up the pre-arranged slack of the stitching, causing it to present the finished appearance of hand-whip stitching, all substantially as shown and described.

Signed at Yonkers, New York, this 16th day of November, 1892.

DAVID HOWELL. 

